The results were exactly what we had hoped for. It is clear by the video above that with the same amount of pressure, the grease kit dramatically improves grease flow. These results are from comparing one bar to another. We believe that the benefits of the grease kit will only be magnified when applied to all the bars of a picking unit simultaneously. After running the test multiple times at varying pressures the results were consistent. Each time the bar with the grease kit ended 5-8 spindles lower than the standard bar. That is 5-8 spindles, gears, and bushings per bar that are being worn prematurely from lack of lubrication.

Implementation

Installing the grease kit can be labor intensive because it requires each bar to be dismantled. Then each bar shaft must be totally stripped down so that each bearing can be replaced. However, the benefit is well worth the time. To make things better, the grease kit is an automatic install on each R.M. King Company Overhaul at no extra charge.

Test

After designing the grease kit, we wanted to run an objective test to see the effects of the new product. To do that we took two bars and machined off the sides of the bar (except where the bearings rest on the ID) and then sealed them with plexi glass. That allowed us to get an unobstructed view of the grease flow. One bar was given the grease bearings and the other had standard bearings. Grease was then pushed into the bars at the same PSI so that it would be a fair comparison.